The present invention has for a subject a coupling connector of the type having a front insulating block; elbow electrical contact elements having front contact regions and housed in openings made in the front insulating block, as well as regions forming elbows and rear contact terminations; a rear insulating block, said insulating block having a central region and two lateral branches; and a front shielding and connection box with a complementary connector or plug unit.
This type of coupling connector is designed to be attached onto a support plate, and more particularly onto a printed circuit board. The rear contact terminations are inserted by force in holes made in said board.
During the forced insertion of the terminations, various forces are exerted, in the first place on the terminations, but also on the rear insulating block, and finally on the front insulating block.
These undesirable forces can be translated, on the one hand, by the separation of the front and rear insulating blocks, and on the other hand, by the deformation of contacts, if they are poorly held and/or guided, due to this separation. There is especially a risk of deformation of the contact pin during the insertion operation from which results a poor connection.
Different coupling connectors of the above mentioned type are known. French patent FR-B-2,684,810 (SOURIAU AND CO. S.A.) describes a connector in which is used a rear insulator having grooves defining upper, rear and lateral support surfaces for the contact pins. This insulator is ratcheted with vertical play in the grooves made in the front insulator.
The contacts are forcefully pre-inserted or molded into the insulating support contacts (i.e. front insulator), then bent, the positioning of the rear insulator being the last operation effected on the contact before delivery.
However, there is a risk of detaching the insulators during the forced insertion of the contacts into the printed circuit, the insertion force being typically raised to 10 N per contact.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,618 (AMP Inc.) describes a connector made up of a one-piece insulator in which the contacts are held. This one-piece insulator supports on its front part a shielding screen extended by means of at least one ground contact clip permitting electrical continuity between the connection surface to a complementary connector and the printed circuit.
Nevertheless, the problem previously mentioned, which has been linked to the forceful insertion of the contacts, has not been resolved. However, this is not the subject to which this invention pertains; the objective is rather to furnish a shielding screen. It cannot anticipate that this shield can participate in the solution of the problem posed and, notably, that this shield can offer a sufficient rigidity to keep the front and rear insulators of the connector joined together in one piece during the forceful insertion of contacts into the printed circuit.